


McCoy's Sudden Interest In Native Flora

by StellarLibraryLady



Series: Star Trek Winter Holidays Series [16]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Alien Planet, Alien Plants, Bickering, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mistletoe, hanky-panky, landing party, native plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 21:51:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17149724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarLibraryLady/pseuds/StellarLibraryLady
Summary: McCoy provides Spock with an opportunity for a stolen kiss.  But when Spock does not take advantage of the option in a timely manner, he has to come up with some unique diversions to appease the disappointed McCoy.





	McCoy's Sudden Interest In Native Flora

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Esperata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esperata/gifts).
  * Inspired by [One Thing Leads To Another](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17126948) by [Esperata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esperata/pseuds/Esperata). 



> While writing a comment to Esperata for "One Thing Leads To Another," I saved some of my statements to create this fic. This is what happens when Spock takes longer to catch on than Esperata supposed and he has to get creative to make amends. 
> 
> Everyone have a great holiday season!

It wasn’t as if he had jeopardized the peace of the universe, for heaven’s sake! It wasn’t even that he had hinted at the destruction of the Federation of Planets and all that it stood for. It wasn’t even close to being anything that earthshaking. But it mattered a helluva lot to the stability of their personal relationship, especially their intimate one. And for that reason alone, the outcome of this dilemma for him was right up there with peace for all time.

All that McCoy had done was to pick up some strange plant and call it something that it wasn’t. Yeah, it wasn’t mistletoe, but couldn’t they just pretend for a moment that it was? Just long enough for a stolen kiss? Couldn’t the dense Vulcan go along with McCoy’s seeming nonsense without dissecting the logic out of the situation?! Couldn’t Spock go all crazy for once and just be romantic?! Preferably, starry-eyed sappy and illogical as hell?!

Damn it, all McCoy had wanted was some kind of spontaneous gesture from his boyfriend to assure him that romance wasn’t dead in Spock’s heart. McCoy certainly hadn’t wanted this blank gaze of incomprehension from Spock that he was getting.

And all that Spock had wanted was to wipe that aggravated, disappointed look off McCoy’s face. Apparently Spock should have realized quicker that McCoy had likened the strange flora on the alien planet to mistletoe in a vain attempt to get a sign of romance from him. And seeing how it was a plant which people traditionally kissed under at Christmastime on Terran, Spock assumed quickly (but not quickly enough) that McCoy had wanted Spock to steal a kiss from him.

Forget that the two guys were in the middle of a landing party on an alien planet. Forget that there would be prying eyes everywhere from their fellow crew mates who would be titillated by this hint at their private life between the sheets. Forget the fact that this plant wasn’t even mistletoe. None of that mattered. But romance sure as hell did.

Spock even figured, correctly, that McCoy would not wish to be reminded that the mistletoe wasn’t even much of a plant. It was, in fact, a parasite, living off other plants instead of leading an honest existence much as its reluctant host was trying to do despite being sapped by the invading mistletoe. 

“Forget it,” McCoy muttered, turning away. “Just forget that I even mentioned it.” The accusation that Spock had no romance in his soul rang clearly between them. McCoy could not have made it any plainer if he had been shouting his outrage.

“Leonard--”

“Forget it,” McCoy muttered again and sounded as if he had not found the long-anticipated toy under the Christmas tree which he had coveted for so long. He let loose of the plant-that-was-not-mistletoe, and the branch it was attached to swung back up into the air to assume its normal position.

In spite of McCoy’s seeming to shut down and wanting nothing more to do with him, Spock could see the tears in McCoy’s eyes and realized that McCoy was more disappointed with Spock than angry at him. If the good doctor was angry at anything, it was the fact that he was showing his need for Spock’s attention. It struck Spock that he could not let McCoy think that he was begging for affection when it was McCoy’s right to have that affection from his lover. Spock must repair the damage to McCoy’s heart at once. It might not appear to be logical or seemly behavior to Spock, but it was not his opinion that mattered at the moment.

Spock realized that he must make a Gesture, and a significant one at that.

Spock hooked his arm around McCoy’s waist and started pulling him toward the nearest convenient tree and the darkness inside its low-hanging branches.

“What the hell?!” McCoy protested. “Where the hell are you dragging me?! What the hell’s going on?!”

“Come with me, Leonard,” Spock said firmly.

“Have you gone nuts?!” Small tree branches slapped McCoy in the face. “What the hell are you doing?! Answer me, damn it! What do you think you are--” 

Some scuffling and garbled words were heard from the direction where the two men had disappeared.

Then it got ominously quiet except for the calling of some disturbed birds high in the trees. Then even they silenced themselves once more.

“Captain Kirk, sir,” Scotty said nervously. “Was that Dr. McCoy in dire distress?”

“Sounded like him,” Kirk agreed as he looked around suspiciously. He frowned when he could not locate Spock or McCoy, and they had been right behind the rest of the away party. Or they had been only a few moments before.

“Why did Dr. McCoy suddenly stop talking?” Scotty wanted to know as his eyes continued to roll in consternation. The crew was accustomed to McCoy’s ranting. But no one was used to him shutting up so dramatically, especially in the middle of a sentence. 

Kirk’s frown deepened. “I don’t know, Scotty. But I intend finding out. Spock! McCoy! Where are you guys?! Come out now, or we’ll advance with phasers on stun!”

At that moment the undergrowth began moving under the trees, and a solemn Spock walked into the open. He was followed by a red-faced McCoy who had a sheepish, self-conscious, yet satisfied look about himself.

Kirk wondered what the hell those two had been up to, and Scotty’s face said he was wondering the same thing, also. 

“Are you two alright?” Kirk called to them.

“We are fine, Captain,” Spock reassured him.

“McCoy?”

“Yeah, ah, fine, er... Jim.”

“I don’t know.” Kirk looked thoughtful. “You look like you’ve been taxing yourself, Bones. Why don’t you hang back and rest? Spock, why don’t you stay back there and watch him?”

Kirk had never seen Spock and McCoy comply with orders so fast. It was like they were almost eager to be together alone. Kirk frowned. And so near to each other. It was like their shoulders had been spliced together.

“Why are you having to stand so close to him, Mr. Spock?”

“You are correct in saying that Dr. McCoy has taxed himself, Captain.” It wasn’t a lie. Spock just didn’t explain that the reason for McCoy’s recent exertion was the quick snuggling they had done inside that undergrowth under that accommodating tree. “I feel that I need to support him for awhile,” he added in answer to Kirk's most recent question.

“Well, alright then." Kirk considered saying more, but he didn't know what he could add. So he decided to leave well enough alone. "Carry on, gentlemen.” Kirk turned and proceeded to lead the landing party into more exploring.

“Well, you heard the man, Spock,” McCoy said with a knowing grin. “He said for us to carry on with what we were doing.”

“Regretfully, we will be unable to do that exactly. We will have to curtail those pleasant activities for awhile. But we can do this.” And with that, Spock slipped his open hand into McCoy’s furthest hip pocket and allowed his long fingers to cup McCoy’s fleshy rump.

McCoy’s eyelids fluttered. “I believe that will help me quite a lot, Commander.”

Spock raised one eyebrow slightly while a small smile flickered across his lips. “I thought it might. Well, Doctor, shall we advance before the rest of the landing party is lost to sight?”

McCoy’s eyes glowed while he waited for their delicious walking to start. He had a feeling that Spock’s probing fingers would be kneading his lucky hip with every step that they took. He quickly learned that his assumption was correct.

Up ahead, Kirk was just happy that McCoy and Spock were taking care of each other so that he could concentrate on his exploring duties. Those two certainly seemed interested in the exotic flora, especially McCoy. And the good doctor had seemed to capture Spock's interest in the alien planet’s plant life, also. Just listen to them remarking about it even now. It was so peaceful to have them talking about something without bickering.

In fact they even seemed to be quite enjoying themselves.

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing of Star Trek, its characters, and/or its story lines.


End file.
